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N.G. Chernyshevskii's economic views, with particular reference to the agrarian situation in mid-nineteenth century Russia

Das Gupta, Kalyan Kumar

N.G. Chernyshevskii's economic views, with particular reference to the agrarian situation in mid-nineteenth century Russia Thumbnail


Authors

Kalyan Kumar Das Gupta



Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to examine those economic views of Chernyshevskii which arose from his attempt to give a solution for the agrarian problems of mid-nineteenth century Russia.
Because Chernyshevskii was not a professional economist but a polemist, his writings cannot be understood without a detailed knowledge of the social and political conditions of his time. Accordingly, the first part of the thesis is devoted to an analysis of these conditions.
In Part one, chapter one is concerned with the crisis in Russian feudalism, chapter two with the effect of forced labour on the Russian rural economy, chapter three with the condition of the gentry and the serfs, chapter
four with the causes of the reform movements, and chapter five with the government's steps towards reform.
In Part two Chernyshevskii's economic arguments in support of the abolition of serfdom, and his schemes for redemption payments, are analysed. Chapter one deals with his polemic against Tengoborskii on the superiority of hired labour over serf labour. Chapter two discusses his redemtion schemes.
In Part three Chernyshevskii's dialectical theory of social development and his views on the commune are considered. Chapter one deals with his polemic against Vernadskii on the superiority of ? ownership over communal ownership over private ownership of the means of production. In Chapter two his theory of social development is analysed.
Part four contains Chernyshevskii's critique of the political economy of his time, and his theory of socialist production. Chapter one presents his criticisms of the laissez-faire principle. Chapter two is concerned with his discussion of the scope and nature of political economy, and his "hypothetical method". Chapter three deals with his classification of labour into productive and unproductive labour. Chapter four examines his criticism of the Malthusian theory of population. Chapter five is concerned with Chernyshevskii's attitude towards different social formations with particular reference to capitalism. Chapter six discusses his theory of socialist production and his theory of the 'toiling masses'.

Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024

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